Tuesday 18 July – Clevedon/Walton

A cloudless sky and hot sun brought out 17 people. We walked up to the Golf Club buildings where we found a roof covered with 16 Swallows, and also House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Woodpigeon, Coal Tit, Blackbird, Pied Wagtail and Goldfinch. On the gate leading to the track was a juvenile Robin and through the hedge we could see a large number of Herring Gulls and two Lesser Black-backed Gulls, presumably pursuing grounded flying ants on the grass. On the track above the sea we added Linnet and Carrion Crow and one Black-headed Gull on the estuary, but butterflies here were more numerous than birds – Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Red Admiral, Gatekeeper, Comma and Brimstone. During coffee in the field, we found two Green-veined Whites with a Small White gathered together on one spot of dried mud. The coast path did not yield much except a high tide and lapping water, but there was one Mallard on a rock pool, one Rock Pipit, occasional Black-headed Gulls, and Wren was heard. Up on Walton Common we saw a Buzzard, Long-tailed Tits, Magpie, Jay and three Swifts, and enjoyed our picnics in the shade. After moving off beside the woodland along the Common towards Walton we found several Silver-washed Fritillaries and a large blue dragonfly – maybe an Emperor. We walked back to Clevedon Golf Course up a wooded footpath and arrived back at the cars at 1400 hrs. The temperature was 28ºC ! Judy Copeland